davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
THE RATTEEsSAKE's AWFUL EYE,
e,Can Gharn,ssa Bird or Prairie
Dog Without Trouble.
From Fnl1:s st and Stream.

.Ne~er seeing asnake charm a bird OF
animal, l conclsled it was negro sup
erstition or fand1; devoid of fact. So I
continued to think till few days -ago
f,essaef7S '5f rrrff'rrs. -4fi Fsf
rnnes south of abilene, told me what he
had lately witnessed. He said he was
riding along on a prairie and saw prai
RE dog within . few feet of him, which
refused to scamper to his hole, as prai-
RE dogs usually do when approached by
a man; on the contrary, he sat as if
transfixed to the spot, though making a
constant nervous, shuddering motion, as
if anxious to get away. My friend
thought this was strange, and while con-
sidering the spectacle he saw large rat
tlesnake coiled up under some bushes.
his head uplifted, about six or seven
feet from the dog, which still needed
him not, but looked steadily upon the
snake. He dismounted, took the dog by
the head and thrust him off, when the
snake, which up to that moment had
remained quiet, Immediately swelled
with rage and began sounding his rat
ties. The prairie dog for some time
seemed benumbed, hardly capable of
motion, but grew better and finally got
into his hole. My friend then killed the
RATHER. Now, was this a case of charm
ing2 IF not, what was it Ny friend
who told me this is named John Irving
Mcclure, farmer, well known to me,
good and truthful man. I now give
it up that snakes do indeed charm, or
so paralyze birds and little animals
with terror, when they can catch their
eye, that they become helpless and
motionless, almost as good as dead.
What say the scientists?
And to one who is familiar with the
eyes of rattlesnakes it does not seem I'M
reasonable that they should have such
power. If you will examine the eye of
one when he is cold in death, you will
perceive that it has an extremely malig-
nant and terrible expression. When he
is alive and excited I know of nothing
in all nature of so dreadful appearance
as the eye of the rattlesnake. It is
enough to strike not only birds and lit
tie animals, but men with nightmare
[ have on several occasions examined
them closely with strong glasses, and
feel with all force what I state, and /
will tell you that there are few men on
the face of this earth who can look upon
an angered rattlesnake through q good
glass-bringing him apparently within
a foot or two of the eye-and stand it
more than moment.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
The Prices of Wheat.

Mr.. J. r. Dodge, the statistician OF
the Department of Agriculture, has re-
Gently prepared an article on the pro
ductlon and prices of wheat, which viii
be read with peculiar interest so far as
it relates to the dreaded Indian compe-
tltiOn with our own wheat growing in
dustry. The records of imports of
wheat into the United Kingdom for the
first half of the present year shows a
large increase in the proportion fur
nished by this country-sixty-eight per
cent. as against fifty-four per cent in
the first six months of either of the last
two years. The record shows a decided
reduction of the imports from Russia
and from Australia, and a decrease of
twenty per cent. in receipts from India
as compared with the first six months of
last year. Our own wheat ranges eight
cents per bushel higher than that from
India, and five cents per bushel higher
than that from Russia. Its comparative
quality is shown by the fact that, while
it is decidedly higher than that of any
other non-European country, the guam
tity furnished is twice as much as that
supplied by all other countries. India
is our principal competitor in the mar
kets of the world, but the exports from
India for the last ten years would not
equal the crop of an average year in this
country. The Indian crop of the pres
ent year will probably be twenty million
bushels less than that of the preceding
year, while Australia will probably pro
duce fifteen million bushels more than
last year.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
THE LIME-KILN CLUB.
Some Good Advice to the Crowd by
Bro. Gardner.
from the Detroit Free Press. !

''Dar' ar sartin fngs [ want to eau
shun you about, said Brother Gardner
as the meeting opened, ''an' [ shall take
advantage of the present occashun to dc
so.
''Doan' trot out no Presidenshul can
dydate fur 1883 befo' de convenshuns
meet. De amount of wind an money
spent in namin' candidates who nebbel
git dar' would keep all de windmilis il
de kentry in perpetual moshun an pay
de interest on de publick debt.
.sWhen q man advises you to be a
philosopher, keep your eye on him. De
chances ar dat he am a kicker from way
back. He'll eat buckwheat all winter,
come out wild case of de itch in April,
an den abuse de Lawd all summer fur
hevin' afflicted him an let somebody
else go.
eff any of you know who am gwine to
be de mex Gubnor of Michigan, doan'
say word Nobody Will believe you
if you give de fackt away, an by ketpiR'
silence somebody may suspect dat you
know suthin an gin you credit fur it.
''When q man comes to you as an adj
vocate of free trade or purteckshun,
doan' gulp down his theory as you
would n hunk of corned beef. Watch de
advocate a few days. Mebbe his wife
ar b'arfut, his rent two months behind,
an his grocer an butcher tryin' to find
his trail.
"When you har a pusson tryin' to
convince his fellow-mortals dat dis world
wasn't created inside thousand Vars
dat de flood was only thirty-foot rise
in de Ohio Riber-dat Adam an Eve
nebber existed, you git outer dat crowd
an skip fur home. If he bOrry's any
of you he'll nebber pay it back,
an if YOU accommodate him wild a chaw
of 'baccy he'll take de hull plug.
'In case any Of you git on to de fack
dat dis world am gwine to eand up at
sartin date doan say anythin' to de rest
Of us. We can't stop de affair from
comm off, an it would only make us feel
bad to know it.
'Dar' ar men who humbly bow de
mead an say it is de Lawd's will when
anything happens. Look out fur 'em
Dey will borry yer mule an drive him
er death an call it de Lawd's will to
git shet of lawsuit. Oars heap of
people in dis kentry de Lawd nebber
leard of, an dis chap belongs to dat
lass.
"When you hev theory, be sure dat
your rent am paid an dat your fanny
kin sot out sunthin' besides cold Eaters
when company drops in. If you hev a
doctrine, doan' be seen buyin' bedbug
poison in de day time, an doan' git wild
in a dozen rods of anybody's henroost at
night. If you hev an opinion, keep it in
a bari of water about week befo'
you try to fo'ce it off upon de gineral
public
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
Thought She Threw VitriOl.

A singular story comes from France
A wedding party which was RECALLING in
a restaurant al ST. Mande had terrible
fright. The bride and bridegroom,
tradespeople of the neighborhood, were,
after Il good dinner, waltzing and polka
ing with their relatives and friends
Midnight was fast approaching, and the
fun, as is usual at this sort of entertain
ment, was of n most lively, not to say
boisterous, kind, when suddenly a flower
girl made her appearance on the scene
and offered bouquets for sale. The Ia
dies and gentlemen of the company,
taken with her winning ways, eagerly
bought up her nose gays, and at last the
girl walked up to the happy couple to
present them, as every one imagined,
with the prettiest bouquet of the lot.
What was the CONSERVATION Of the by
ISLANDERS when the young woman, by a
rapid movement, drew a vial from her
basket and threw its contents into the
faces of the newly married pair. The
roars of laughter gave place to shrill
screams. The bridesmaids tainted, and
their attendant SWANS, with horror and
dismay depicted ON their countenances,
strove to bring them round. The bride
and bridegroom, surrounded by their
parents and the elders of the party, fan
cied that their last hour had come. and
believing that they were irretrievably
distigured opened and shut their eyes to
find out if they had been bereft of sight.
A few of the hangers-on, rushing up
to the flower girl who had converted
all their enjoyment and festivity into
anguish and mourning, held her fast
pending the arrival of the police. In a
few moments the brides father, com
ing up, took the girl into corner and
learned from her lips that she had been
for three years the mistress of his new
son-in-law, that their intimacy had
been productive of the usual result, and,
in short, that she had been baseIy de-
celved by her lover. Such was her
story. In the meantime a doctor who
had been hastily summoned pronounced
that the ''vitriol' was the most inno-
cent of liquids. The flower girl, sur
prised and much put out, declared that
she had bought it at a chemists shop
hard by. A policeman was immedi-
ately dispatched to the shop in question,
but soon ascertained that the woman
had merely been supplied with tinted
water, as her manner was so strange
that it had aroused suspicion. 1t is a
pity that all the druggists who are
asked for vitriol by Infatuated females
do not take similar precautions. AS it
is, the bride and bridegroom have es-
capped a shocking disaster. But they
can hardly be congratulated on an
suspicious commencement of their
welded career.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
A Conductors Life.

"RailrOads do not often reinstate o
man after he has been bounced, said a
veteran of the rail to me, us we were
laundering along his road ga passen-
ger conductor is generally one who has
been promoted from the brakes. Some
times an engineer is made a conductor,
but you will find these things an excep-
ton. Companies like to keep good ell
gineers at the throttle They had rather
give them more pay than to promote
them. AS a rule it is first brakeman
on freight train, then to the same place
on passenger, then conductor on Il
freight, and by and by to the passenger
train by mighty slow coaches. Many II
passenger conductor has to work as can
extra for two years or more before he
gets a train of his own. And then,
when the coveted place is in sight, he
has wreck, and if he hasn't Il mighty
good case and occasionally influence he
gets bounced. Then he has to 90 to
some other road and begin Mt the bottom
know a man who has worked mp in
this way for ten years. The very first
run he had with his regular train there
was a smash-up, and after the investiga-
ton he was fired. He had saved up
about 81 800. He took this money and
went on the Board of Trade and lost
every dollar in less than week. He
went to railroading again, at the brakes
on freight, for another company, and
has Just been put on as conductor of q
freight on a Western road that kills
about six conductors every year. Bar
ring the dangers of an engineer, his
place is the best on the road. 1t is
mighty seldom that an engineer, if he
escapes, is held to account for an acct
dent. The Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers is the strongest and staunch-
est organization on the face of the earth,
and IS the only one that a railroad di-
rectory is afraid of. But the place of
conductor, especially passenger conduc-
tor, is the most ungrateful and uncer-
tain that man can hold. "-Chicaqo Mail
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
Didn't Mind the Fly.

AS [ was riding in street car with a
friend yesterday morning | noticed that
II fat passenger who sat opposite lis was
gazing in our direction with an air of
stupetied amazement. / nervously adj
justed my necktic, felt my collar and
had general feeling of uneasiness I'M
til | became convinced that the obese
strangers gaze was transfxed by some
popularity uneonsciously displayed by
my friend. [ looked him over and in a
moment discovered the cause of the
fat mans paralysis. A fly had lighted
on the ball Of my friends right eye, and
although the insect was fiendishly ply
ing its ticklers, my friend never winked
nor WINGED, but continued chatting gay
ly, as though he rather enjoyed the din-
bolical antics of pestiferous insects. Is
is any wonder that the fat passenger was
alarmed As for me ] broke out in i'm
mediate laughter, and only suppressed
my hilarity when [ became aware of the
fact that my fcliow-passengers had
doubts as to my sanity. My friends
right eye is Of glass.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
They Could Go.

A well-known foreman of large New
York newspaper composing room-al-
though austere inside the Office and IA
voring nobody, and a decidedly good
fellow outside-was very fond of good
joke, which usually partook of rather
practical nature. Some years ago a
chapel meeting was held on the ques-
ton of having too many cOmpositors on
the paper, and committee of six was
appointed to wait upon the foreman and
try to get him to consent to reduce the
force. A gentleman who is still known
among New York printers was chosen
chairman of the committee and spokes-
man, and he and his associates waited
upon the cold man" and stated the case,
saying that if the force were reduced
those remaining could make Il decent
living, when the following colloquy took
place
Glow many too many men do you
think are on the paper!"
eve have considered the matter and
think six is about the number"
The foreman glanced with twinkle
in his eye from one end of the commit
tee line to the other, and said, with
wave of the hand across: "WeI, you
six can go" and they were discharged.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
The BOOkWOrm's Bride.

A former old bachelor of Spruce
! street, New York, who is a great lover
of books, employed an old woman tc
take care of his rooms. The work OF
arranging and busting the library led
Martha to be smitten with taste fo1
reading. She began to spend all her
earnings in buying books. Not long
ago she entered the library with par
eel of books picked up at a book stall.
Her employer, Selling one of the books,
exclaimed:
GLOW much did you give for this2"
''Thirty cents, D." replied Martha.
Thirty cents! Why, this book is
worth So, 900, +" cried the collector. 81
will give you five dollars for it.
"You have just told me, sir, it is
worth So, 600. will not sell it for less. -
The book was first edition, extreme
ly rare, of MOntaigne. The servant
would not take less than 5000. This
was more than the bool1worm would
agree to give for it. He thought the
matter over for a month. Finally SAID
he to himself:
"This woman takes good care of me.
She seems to have the same passion for
old books that l have. Why should [
not marry her? | should then have my
Montaigne."
He popped the question, was accept
ell, and the old servant brought him the
book by way of Il dowry.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
DEAD FROM A DOGS BITE.
Lite Jesse Larue the Victim in a
Clear Case of HydrophObia.

Jesse Larue, aged 9 years, a son of
John Larue, one of the car inspectors
on the Belvidere division of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, was bitten in the calf of
the leg some ten weeks ago. The dogs
teeth met in the flesh. The wound was
not cauterized, but healed nicely in a
week. The boy seemed to suffer no in
convenience from it after it healed until
Friday morning, when he showed signs
of hydrophobia. The first symptom
was a slight CONFUSION, in which his
hands and legs jerked peculiarly. Be
ing offered a glass of water, he had a
harder CONFUSION. The boy was at
once taken by his father and brother to
physician in Carpentersville, n. j.,
who is renowned along the line of the
railroad for his dog-bite cures. He said
us soOd as he saw the boy that he never
had had a case SO far developed, and he
feared it was too late. However he gave
him medicine and ordered his removal
home. Going across streams in the
cars the boy grew sick at the stomach.
Arriving home he breathed worse, and
all the worst symptoms of the disease
set in. He frothed at the mouth and
barked, and at times he ran about until
he was exhausted. Five physicians
stood by quite helpless, viewing the
pitiful spectacle. The case had several
curious features At nine o'clock in the
evening the child was quiet and rational.
He expressed desire to go to his room,
and was carried stairs. He undressed
himself and fell upon his knees and said
his prayers, but the moment he got into
bed another CONFUSION set in. He suf-
fered terribly for four hours after that,
and then his constitution gave out, and
a few moments before two o'clock he
died
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
TIE SOCIAL PUSn3BS.
The Glass OF People who are Bound
to Get on i'll Society.

Says n Boston letter to the Providence
JoHrRM: That the most humiliatin8 fea-
tIlre of modern society is to be found III
the articles of those who wish to ''get
on in the fashionable world there has
often enough been remarked, yet there
is still room for amazcmGnt at the III
genuity of the devices to which snob3
resort. We have had good many we'd
dlngS recently i'll the neighborhOOd OF
Boston, and among other brides OF high
social position has been Miss X, whose
family is rather noted for its exclusive
ness. When the invitations were sent
out Mrs. A, woman who is really de-
yOured by social ambition, WAS not in
Guided in the list of guests. She had
met Mrs. X, and had somewhat over
stepped the strict proprieties of etiquette
Ill the manner in which she had called
upon that exclusive lady. Now, she
was doubtless much chagrined at not
receiving card for a wedding, which
was to be very large one, but she was
by no means ready to abandon the field.
On the day after the invitations went
out, Mrs. A. sent Miss X. a valuable,
well selected piece of plate as a wedding
gift. Miss X, in the privacy of a select
circle of intimate friends, declared that
she would not have the present. 1t was
urged upon her that she certainly could
not return it.
'But [ will not acknowledge it !" she
declared angrily.
"But then, my dear" her mother said,
''you will be putting yourself in the
wrong. You cannot be rude, and es-
oil 70 A
81 don't care" persisted the daugh-
ter; 81 will not invite her anyway. This
is my wedding, and 1 will have whom I
plese. She can't buy an invitation with
her trumpery old present. .
But of cOuse in the end Mrs. A. was
invited and she appeared at the wedding
with an air of being the most Intimate
friend of the family. 1t amused those
who knew the story, but Mrs. A. is
clever enough to make the fact that she
was there tell for good deal in her
struggle up the social heights.
A still more amusing trick was re-
sorted to by a Boston lady this winter
to get to a reception where she wished
to appear. She wrote to the hostess, to
whom she had never even been pre-
scented, that she had a lady high in
Washington society staying with her,
and that it was so much the custom in
Washington to attend receptions unin
vited that her friend had seen no impro-
priety in telling someacquaintances that
she would meet them at this gathering.
The note went on to say that as hostess
the writer is put i'll so awkward posi-
ton that she had ventured to lay the
case before the lady giving the enter
tainment, hoping that she would be will
ing to send cards to herself and the
stranger. On this occasion the scheme
was failure The note was answered
merely by formal regret that, the list of
guests having been made up before the
receipt of Mrs. IS note, it was i'm
possible to comply with her request.
The lady from Washington probably
never knew of the use made of herr name
At least she did not present herself at
the reception.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
The Tight Rope Performer.

After many years of retirement BlOn-
din, the most famous tightrope per-
former in the world, has returned to the
active pursuit of his profession. AL
though an old man, he said to be as
fearless and graceful as of old, and is
now giving regular exhibitions in En-
gland. He receives the large sum of
9300 for each appearance, and immense
crowds are attracted to his exhibitions.
Arrangements for his appearance in
this country next year are now cOmDlet-
ed, and it is settled that he is to arrive
here early next spring. A theatrical
man who knew him intimatel " when he
was in America and who was interested
in his management when he per-
formed his wonderful feat of crossing
Niagara, said: "Blondin was abso-
utely without nervousness OF fear
when on the rope. While they were
fixing the guys which steadied the cable
across the Falls, one of them came loose
and hung dangling from the middle of
the cable over the rushing current be-
meath. Blondin coolly walked along
till he came to the loose guy rope, when
he slid down hand over hand and reach
ed the end of it. Letting his legs drop,
they just touched the surface of the cur
rent, of which the force was so great
that the contact sent him swinging like
huge pendulum. Three or four times
he repeated this, apparently enjoying
the fun, and then coolly clambered up.
I asked him once whether the rush of
the rush of the rapids below him did not
make him dizzy.
cit might, he answered, ''if I saw it;
but I don't. I never look down, for
should [ do so | should be lost"
"But how do you tell where to place
your feet ?" [ asked.
ooh, I let my feet take care of them
selves"
His feet are peculiarly formed, and in
his toes was much prehensile power"
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08

The house in which he lives was built in
1853. The Captain is veteran of the
civil war and draws pension. He is
very proud of his descent from John
Alden and Priscilla.
HEELS on the shoes first originated
with the PersiaDs. A person of low
stature was regarded as an object OF con
tempt, and, therefore, the heel was the
happy thought of some one of the I'M
fortunates, thus providing by art that
which nature denied. But, as in mod
ern fashions, it was carried to excess,
persons who were already too tall to
look well, adopting them because they
were the ''style."
EXPERIMENTS seem to show that a
large ocean steamer, going at nineteen
knots an hour, will move over about two
miles after its engines are stopped and
reversed, and no authority gives less
than mile or a mile and a half as the
required space to stop its progress.
The violent collisions in some cases dur
ing log may thus be accounted for.
IT is astonishing how many head of
stock a half acre sand ridge Will accom-
modate during freshet. There was
one in Crawford, Ga, the only dry land
within a long stretch of swamp. On
this half acre los head of cattle, about
so head of goats, and as many hogs
congregated to escape drowning.